Still worried about whiskers?
Tin plating has been, and continues to be, the preferred surface coating for the leads on electronic components. However, tin-based plating can be susceptible to the formation of needle-like protrusions, or whiskers. If whiskers grow to critical lengths in service, they could cause electrical shorts, disruption of moving parts, and / or degraded RF / high-speed performance. For decades, small amounts of lead have been added to the tin to prevent the growth of whiskers, but elimination of lead has stimulated a review of the risks associated with the use of pure tin. This is especially a concern for high-reliability products.
If you are concerned about tin whiskers we recommend the iNEMI website, link below:
Directive Decoder
